A Bunch More Obamacare Schadenfreude

There's been a lot of water under the Obamacare bridge since the last time I summarized.

Well, it's official, on average, Obamacare policies are going up 25% on average: Obamacare premiums to go up by double digits, Confirmed: Obamacare premiums going up an average of 25% in 2017, And that's just average, Obamacare Premiums Up 30% In TX, MS, KS; 50% In IL, AZ, PA; 93% In NM: When Does The Death Spiral Blow Up? But Arizona wins the 2017 ObamaCare sweepstakes: 116% increase in benchmark premium. Steve Wynn: Printing Money Degrades Living Standard, Causes Anger; Healthcare Goes Up, Product Doesn't Get Better. For Pennsylvania Open Enrollment In Affordable Care Marketplace Will Bring Unpleasant Changes To Consumers. Mary Katherine Ham explains how her Defective Obamacare Health Insurance Product Just Blew Up, with a 96% premium increase to the cost of a small house mortgage.

Naive CBS anchors flabbergasted.



Flashback To Obama 2010: Under ObamaCare Your Premiums Will Fall “By As Much As 3000%”



But now: ‘I Had Nothing to Do With That!’ Obama Dodges Blame For Skyrocketing Premiums and compared Obamacare to a Sumsung Galaxy S7, catches fire but is still better than a rotary phone. ObamaCare is like a defective cellphone, or something. Which could be true if it's not your house that catches fire.

And it's not just premiums. Obamacare is insuring far less people than was promised: Obamacare Exchanges -- Enrollment Is Depressed by Their High Cost & Poor Value | National Review. Aetna CEO: Young people pick beer over Obamacare. At least you get a buzz with a beer. For a healthy young person, you get nothing but a bill for Obamacare, between premiums and high deductibles. Health Law Tax Penalty? I’ll Take It, Millions Say

And with the plans not making money even with ridiculous premiums, insurers and provider continue to flee the program: Obamacare Premiums Skyrocket as Insurers Flee the Program. AP Analysis: Obamacare consumers face fewer choices next year. What if your Obamacare insurer has left the business? Chicago Hopenchange: Major hospitals bail on ObamaCare for 2017.

Obamacare and the Prognosticators

Many conservatives are rightly feeling vindicated by the rolling failures of Obamacare this year. The economic logic of the exchanges is proving untenable in a way that many predicted when the Democrats set the country on this path. And some of the particular problems behind the failures, perhaps especially the way in which the system’s requirement for fairly comprehensive coverage has made insurance less attractive to the consumers it wants most, were evident before this all began. But it’s important to also see what hasn’t turned out as anyone quite expected, especially as it would helpfully moderate expectations about what people on all sides are predicting now. . .

The law of unintended consequences will not be denied.

(Most) Liberals are still holding out: CNN - Obamacare: Sick - but not in death spiral. Jonathan Gruber: Obamacare is ‘working as designed’, well yes, designed to destroy the American health care system. Grey Lady Worried on Obamacare, well, they do have a lot of emotional investment. Why Obama Won’t Listen to Reason on Obamacare. Does he listen to reason on anything else? When Will Liberals Answer For Obamacare’s Failures? Never. Obama Blames Media on Obamacare Failures. Well, obviously, they passed the law without reading or understanding it.  Colbert Mercilessly Mocks Obamacare. Of course, he thinks it didn't go far enough.

What about the politics of this? Harvard poll: Majority says ObamaCare faring poorly — even before WH acknowledged steep premium hikes, ObamaCare premium hikes fuel Trump, GOP case in key swing states Did your health care plan go up by 25% or more? Blame the democrats; they voted for it, exclusively. ObamaCare hikes leave Dems exposed They had clothes? I didn't see . . . GOP rebuffs Obama's entreaties to fix health law. Yeah, it's not their fault; none of it. If you want their cooperation, you need to compromise. I don't see that happening. Next prez has to plug health care holes. You mean fix the democrats mistakes?  Will the Fight for Obamacare Be Less Bitter Without Obama? I doubt it.Evidence? Hillary Clinton Hints at a Health Care Takeover to Keep Obamacare Alive. It was always the liberal plan. Break insurance, and use that as an excuse to take control of it.

Malheur Seven Acquitted on All Charges

Good news for the ongoing "sagebrush rebellion" as Jury finds all Oregon standoff defendants not guilty of federal conspiracy, gun charges. 

A federal jury on Thursday found Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan Bundy and five co-defendants not guilty of conspiring to prevent federal employees from doing their jobs through intimidation, threat or force during the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

The Bundy brothers and occupiers Jeff Banta and David Fry also were found not guilty of having guns in a federal facility. Kenneth Medenbach was found not guilty of stealing government property, and a hung jury was declared on Ryan Bundy's charge of theft of FBI surveillance cameras.
. . .
The jury of nine women and three men returned the verdicts after five hours of deliberations on Thursday in the high-profile case that riveted the state and drew national and international attention to the federal bird sanctuary in rural eastern Oregon.

Each defendant stood separately, facing the jury, as the judge read the verdicts. Ammon Bundy, his hands clasped behind his back, nodded as the "not guilty'' verdicts were read for him first. As he sat, he smiled and rubbed the shoulder of his lawyer, Marcus Mumford.

The acquittals did not occur without incident:

 The coda to the stunning verdict, undoubtedly a significant blow to federal prosecutors, was when Ammon Bundy's lawyer Marcus Mumford argued that his client, dressed in a gray suit and white dress shirt, should be allowed to walk out of the court, a free man.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown told him that there was a U.S. Marshal's hold on him from a pending federal indictment in Nevada.

"If there's a detainer, show me,'' Mumford stood, arguing before the judge.

Suddenly, a group of about six U.S. Marshals surrounded Mumford at his defense table. The judge directed them to move back but moments later, the marshals grabbed on to him.

"What are you doing?'' Mumford yelled, as he struggled and was taken down to the floor.

As deputy marshals yelled, "Stop resisting,'' the judge demanded, "Everybody out of the courtroom now!''

Mumford was taken into custody, a member of his legal team confirmed.

Unless there's much more to the story of Mumford's protestations than is reported here, the marshal's reactions seem extreme and punitive, as if to take revenge on the person who managed to help the seven evade what they perceived as justice. Mumford said later that he was tased in the incident.

By 6:30 p.m., Mumford was released from custody. He confirmed that he was struck with a stun gun once while he was on the floor of the courtroom.

"I grew up on a dairy farm, so am I used to some rough treatment, sure?'' he said. But he said the actions of the U.S. marshals were uncalled for.

"All I was asking for was papers. Just show me you have the authority to take Mr. Bundy into custody.''

Pretty clearly a case of jury nullification, but I'm OK with that. The jurors may have found the hook they needed to acquit:

Schindler said he believes the jury's verdicts resulted from the difficulty the government had in proving that the "intent'' of the defendants was to conspire against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

"The judge gave us broad ability to bring in a defendant's state of mind and what you saw was a number of defendants who each had their own motivations,'' Schindler said.

When prosecuting a drug conspiracy, it's easy to point to what the defendants' underlying objective is. But in this case, Schindler said, there was "no obvious underlying self interest.'' He said the defense also was bolstered because the jurors came from different regions from the state, and not just from Portland.

Another factor may have been the FBI's heavy handed use of FBI "infiltrators" in the standoff. As many as 15 FBI plants also participated in the crimes alleged by the government: Defense rests with witness confirming he was FBI informant and ran occupation's shooting range

Defense lawyers rested in the Oregon standoff case Monday after they called a witness who confirmed he was an informant for the FBI and acknowledged that he infiltrated the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and supervised the shooting range for several days.

The man who occupiers initially knew only by his alias "John Killman'' was revealed to be Fabio Minoggio, a Las Vegas resident subpoenaed by the defense to testify after prosecutors declined to confirm if he was a government informant.
. . .
Minoggio was one of 15 confidential informants who fed the FBI information about the occupiers, testimony showed.

Nine of the 15 were at the refuge for various lengths of time between Jan. 4 and Jan. 26, according to a statement that Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel read to jurors. Those nine included the three who have been identified at trial: Minoggio, defense witness Terri Linnell of California and Mark McConnell, who was the driver of the Jeep that Ammon Bundy was riding in when he was arrested on Jan. 26.

None of the unidentified other six informants were at the refuge beyond Jan. 23, Gabriel told jurors.

LaVoy Finicum, shot to death in road stop, Jan 26, 2106

While it is perfectly legal to use such plants, it may not have sat well with jurors that there were more people from the FBI participating in the stand off than people who were actually charged with crimes. That screams entrapment.

It will be interesting to see how the Nevada trials go. After this, I'm sure the government will be sure to push for an all urban jury, if possible. The jury in this trial, which was held in Salem, had jurors from a wide area of Oregon, not just the cities of Salem and Portland, which might have had an entirely different outcome.

Friday Morning Wake Up

Nothing like some bad music to get the blood boiling flowing. Semblant, a Brazilian band, proves that it has no borders. But it helps to have a hot lead singer:



Mizuho Lin:

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Don't Bring the Garbage to the New Home

This also applies between states, as has been pointed out by the estimable Professor Reynolds. If you flee New York, Illinois or California for employment in a low tax, sun belt state, don't continue to vote for the same policies that made  you leave.

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Still Fighting over Fish

Menhaden catch cap eased, pleasing no one

East Coast fishery managers agreed Wednesday to bump up next year’s catch limit on Atlantic menhaden, a compromise that satisfied neither commercial fishing interests nor conservationists.

Meeting in Bar Harbor, Maine, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted to allow a 6.5 percent increase in the harvest of menhaden, a little oily fish that no one eats but is the largest catch, by weight, in the Chesapeake Bay. They’re used to make animal meal and health supplements, and as bait to catch crabs, striped bass and other fish. But they’re also considered a vital link in the marine food chain, and a staple in the diet of striped bass and other predators. For all of those reasons, their management stirs intense passion.

 Everybody like menhaden.

Fishing interests have been pushing for a substantial catch increase, arguing that recent studies showed there were plenty of fish in coastal waters and no risk of taking too many. Yet conservationists urged the commission to stay the course, saying the fisheries panel should first figure out how many menhaden are needed as food for other fish and then look at reallocating the commercial harvest to spread the catch around more.

It's hard to go wrong by keeping the catch down. It will help the fish population grow, and in the meantime, prices for the fish that are caught tend to rise, minimizing, if not altogether offsetting the economic loss.

Anecdotally, I would say that menhaden populations around us a slightly better off than a few years ago, but not to the levels that were here when I arrived in 1985. I would like to have seen the restrictions stay a while longer.

The Foreign Influence at Clinton.com

Project Veritas has a new video showing how the Clinton campaign illegally takes in foreign donations. Project Veritas, part four: How to inject foreign money into an election, starring Bob Creamer. Ace:  Let Us Show You How Easy It Is to Get Democrat Front Groups to Accept Tainted Foreign Donations. Just follow the money.

State Dept. months late on explaining Clinton aide's missing emails, Stop us if you’ve heard this before: State can’t find e-mails from key Hillary email scandal figure

NARA told State in July to produce Pagliano’s complete e-mail records within 30 days, or to explain what happened to them. So far, State hasn’t responded to this demand, now more than 90 days old. State told ABC News that it’s been spending that time looking for Pagliano’s .pst file from that period of time (May 2009 to February 2013), but … they just can’t seem to find it:

Hillary Clinton email saga continues as 33,000 erased emails may not be ‘missing’ after all They're always in the last place you look, but in this case I think that's by design. HillaryClinton’s E-Mail Server Company Got Almost $1 Million In Gov’t Loans After Wiping E-Mails. Payoff? No wonder Pence hammers FBI investigation: ‘Doesn’t pass the smell test’. It doesn't even pass the laugh test. Richard Nixon could only wish he got Hillary’s FBI treatment.

The Washington Post has a big article today on a 30 pg email release by Wikileaks, in which Doug Band outlines the financial snake pit by which money flow from Clinton Foundation donors to the Clinton family, and their retinue. Inside ‘Bill Clinton Inc.’: Hacked memo reveals intersection of charity and personal income. Wall Street Journal: Clinton Foundation’s Fundraisers Pressed Donors to Steer Business to Former President. The Free Beacon has  Clinton Aide’s Memo Details Ties Between Consulting Firm and Clinton Foundation while Powerline has Clinton Corruption, Two Articles. Hot Air: Brutal new Clinton emails about Teneo remind us of Huma Abedin circa 2010. All of which might explain this WaPo piece: House Republicans are already preparing for ‘years’ of investigations of Clinton, as well they should. Top Democrat Strategist Warned Podesta: Hillary ‘Seems Indifferent’ to ‘Systemic Corruption’ Indifferent, my ass. She was strongly pro systematic corruption, as the chief beneficiary. Clinton ‘May Be Immune To Pay To Play’ says pollster. Huma Abedin Granted Access To Hillary Based On Clinton Global Initiative Donor Status

Other slightly more amusing Wikileaks, Hillary Clinton Needed Someone to ‘Sober Her Up’ at 4:30 in the Afternoon. Well it was 5 PM somewhere. John Podesta invokes the Sweet Meteor of Death, and the fact that the Clinton Team Leaked Creepshot of Bernie Sanders in His Swimming Suit. I'm sure that cost Bernie the nomination. The other dirty tricks had nothing to do with it. Speaking of her public and private faces: Clinton Took More Conciliatory Tone With Health Care Industry in Paid Speeches. Bring out the minstrels! Hacked email: Deploy the 'brown and women pundits'. Advice to Clinton: Cultivate ‘brown and women pundits’ to shame NY Times over tough coverage. Tough coverage from the Times? Did they accidentally tell the truth or something? CNN Host Stuns Media, Says Clinton’s Team Thinks “She’s Nuts!” Slightly lifts thumb on scale.

Leaked Emails Show Clinton Staffers Struggling To Handle Bill’s Women ‘Issues’ pairs well with Clinton Fixer Reveals Sick Smear Hillary Ordered Against Monica don't you think? YouTube backs off ban of 'Clinton's black son'

In an act of intense projection Chelsea Clinton, speaking in Madison to an audience of "a few hundred," said children are getting bullied in school because of the "Trump effect."

And as far as that "almost daily diet of hate speech" Chelsea spoke of — where does it come from? Does it come from Trump or does it come from Trump's opponents who are paraphrasing him? I think most of the noise comes from the paraphrasers, and the question is whether they are: 1. Interpreting Trump accurately and getting us to see dog-whistling for what it really is, or 2. Distorting what Trump says into something it's not that they want you to think it is.

Michelle Malkin discusses Hillary’s climate of hate, and Scott Adams on The Bully Party,

I’ve been trying to figure out what common trait binds Clinton supporters together. As far as I can tell, the most unifying characteristic is a willingness to bully in all its forms.

If you have a Trump sign in your lawn, they will steal it.

If you have a Trump bumper sticker, they will deface your car.

if you speak of Trump at work you could get fired.

On social media, almost every message I get from a Clinton supporter is a bullying type of message. They insult. They try to shame. They label. And obviously they threaten my livelihood.

We know from Project Veritas that Clinton supporters tried to incite violence at Trump rallies. The media downplays it.

We also know Clinton’s side hired paid trolls to bully online. You don’t hear much about that.

Obamacare is sick so Hillary Clinton Hints at a Health Care Takeover to Keep Obamacare Alive. It was always about putting more power in their hands and more money in their pocketses.

Spike In Immigrants Illegally Crossing Into US Ahead Of Election. Hillary is the carrot and Donald is the stick:

“The smugglers are telling them if Hillary [Clinton] gets elected, that there’ll be some sort of amnesty, that they need to get here by a certain date,” Cabrera said. “They’re also being told that if [Donald] Trump gets elected, there’s going to be some magical wall that pops up overnight and once that wall gets up, nobody will ever get in again.”

Hot Air reports that The surrender on immigration has already begun

Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton's Syria plan would start World War Three: Wednesday morning US election briefing. We're already in World War III; we just haven't admitted it to ourselves yet.

Ex-Secret Service officer behind Clinton tell-all planning defamation suit Oh goody!

A lawyer for Gary Byrne, whose book “Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate,” has sent notices to Media Matters for America and David Brock informing them that he intends to file suit.

“Officer Byrne will bring legal action against you, in your personal capacity, and against Media Matters,” a lawyer for the former Secret Service officer wrote to Brock, a loyal Clinton ally and the founder of the liberal advocacy group Media Matters.

The letter requests Brock and Media Matters to “hold” all records and communications associated with their communications regarding Byrne — including “Any communication(s) between David Brock and The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton” regarding the former Secret Service officer, suggesting there might be collusion between the campaign and her defenders.

It also demands Brock “immediately and publicly retract any statement or inference by yourself and/or Media Matters to the effect that Officer Byrne was not fully truthful in recounting within ‘Crisis of Character’ details from any previous testimony.”

 And via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 10.26.16", Megyn Kelly Is Only Selectively Interested In Sex, Hillary’s Climate Of Hate, Why Are Celebs Remaining Silent About Politics? Esquire Editor Answers Own Question By Naming & Shaming, Project Veritas Video Shows Clinton Allies Accepting Huge Foreign Donation, Yes, There Is A Coup Underway In America, Two Frightening Post-election Questions if Hillary Wins, ABC – Clinton’s Lead Drops By Four In A Single Day, Porn Star Suddenly Claims Trump Offered Her $10K For Sex Ten Years Ago, Haitians Tell Hillary “Give Us Back The Billions You Stole”. Trump Gains Lead Over Clinton In Florida, Prep For Pointing And Laughing – Some Pre-Election Polling, Tom Perez Jokes About Murdered Girl At Clinton Event, Race Hustler Deray McKesson Endorses Hillary

I Suppose a Fat Flannel Clad Dyke Would be More to Their Liking

Go home feminists, you’re drunk. Harpies protest ‘large-breasted’ Wonder Woman as Honorary Ambassador

Recently the United Nations ‘appointed’ Wonder Woman as an Honorary Ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls, which makes perfect sense if you understand Wonder Woman’s history and her storyline.

Of course feminists can’t be bothered to understand anything but their asinine agenda so they have an issue with it.

Wonder Woman was never my favorite superhero, but she has her moments.  I don't care if you make her lesbian, or bisexual but please don't put her in flannel.

The petition feminists are asking others to sign says, “A large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in shimmery, thigh-baring bodysuit with an American flag motif” is not an appropriate Ambassador for gender equality.

Who says they're impossible proportions? Just look at Linda Carter!

So if Wonder Woman was ugly, had small boobs and wasn’t white would that be acceptable?

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup" and linkfest. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Oh No! Climate Change to Push Ospreys Out

Why do they fall for this kind of crap? Climate change is disturbing hundreds of bird species, including our beloved osprey

There are many epic animal migrations in nature, and one is currently underway in the D.C. area. Millions of birds are in the process of escaping the cold, polar air and flocking south, some to as far away as Brazil. Today, Washington, D.C., sits in the middle of the Atlantic Flyway, but climate change will greatly alter avian ranges and migration patterns.

Even more alarming — recent reports have presented disturbing findings on the potential demise of entire bird populations. Over 300 species are “on the brink,” according to the Audubon Society, including the D.C. area’s beloved osprey.

The osprey, famous for building massive nests on channel markers in the Chesapeake Bay, is in particular danger. The Audubon Society predicts the beautiful bird could lose 79 percent of its current summer range — where the bird lives and feeds — by 2080. The society notes that the osprey can live in warm climates like Florida year-round, but they worry whether the birds will find enough fish to survive.

The current Osprey range, in the North America (they live on all continents except Antarctica).

They use the whole damn map, except for the furthest north, into which they will likely expand in a warming world. Our birds migrate to the tropics for winter. Hot weather is no deterrent to them. As for the availability of fish, I would expect human fishing and depletion of stocks to be far more of a problem than any changes induced by the

They Wanted to Get Away With It at Clinton.com

It's nice when the news gives up a relatively distinctive bunch of stories, but not too many, with some new implications.

Clinton aide talked of needing to 'clean' up Obama's comments on email server

"We need to clean this up - he has emails from her - they do not say state.gov," said Clinton adviser Cheryl Mills in a hacked email posted Tuesday on WikiLeaks.

As the scandal over Clinton's use of a private email server was still emerging in March 2015, Obama told CBS News that he learned about the arrangement through the media. "The same time everybody else learned it through news reports," Obama told CBS News' Bill Plante.

Responses to this finding? Holy Crap! . HotAir on Team Hillary: “Clean up” on Aisle 1600 after POTUS denial on Hillary e-mail server

At the time, Podesta had left his position as Obama’s chief of staff three weeks earlier. Presumably, he still had the ability to advise Obama informally. Whether he did or not, Obama didn’t clean up his story for months — if at all. In October 2015 — seven months after Mills sent up the clean-up on Aisle 1600 flare — Obama categorically denied any knowledge of Hillary’s private server in an interview with CBS’ Steve Kroft. . .

 But privately, Hillary's Aides Privately Scoffed at Obama's Claims to Not Know About Hillary's Secret, Illegal Email System

Back to Politico, where Josh Earnst allows as how Obama kinda sorta didn't exactly tell the whole truth:

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest later clarified that while the president knew about Clinton’s email address, he “was not aware of the details of how that email address and that server had been set up.”

Hillary's Team Answers Why Hillary Tried to Hide Her Secret Server Instead of Revealing it Long Before the Election: "Because They Wanted to Get Away With It" "You'd almost think they were discussing a federal crime or something." Clinton adviser: ‘They wanted to get away with it’ on private email setup

“This is a cheryl special. Know you love her, but this stuff is like her Achilles heal. [sic] Or kryptonite. she just can't say no to this shit. Why didn't they get this stuff out like 18 months ago? So crazy,” Tanden wrote.

“Unbelievable,” Podesta replies.

“I guess I know the answer. They wanted to get away with it,” Tanden said, urging that Clinton turn over the emails to the National Archives immediately.

“I highly recommend she start making some other positive news soon,” Tanden wrote, probably in reference to the NY Times story. Podesta’s reply is sarcastic, “Really? That’s great advice.” Even the Washington Post offers this Hillary friendly (of course) article WikiLeaks reveals fears and frustrations inside Clinton world.

Hitler learns of Hillary's email issues (of course):



Tech analysis of emails leaves us wondering how Donna Brazile is still working at the DNC. Because lying in the face of overwhelming evidence is a valuable political skill?

Wikileaks: Podesta Kept Up With Former Investment Firm Employer While at White House,  "As Obama's energy adviser, Clinton campaign chair met and corresponded with former colleagues seeking green energy 'gold rush'" Follow the money.

Under ethics rules governing the “revolving door” between government and the private sector, Podesta was barred from “participat[ing] in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to [a] former employer or former clients” within two years of joining the administration.

But it isn't enough to skim money off the green movement, you must destroy all who cast doubt on the green money machine: Hacked emails reveal plan to counter Rupert Murdoch's climate denial.

Switching to Project Veritas, the Observer observes (no, not yet) Democratic Party Operative Robert Creamer Used Terror to Wage War on Honesty "Team Clinton appears to approve of violence and 'bird dogging' in WikiLeaks hack of Podesta emails." This is really the biggest scandal of the campaign so far. Direct, criminal suppression of opponents campaigns. Don't expect the "regular" media to make much of it.Election Law Expert: Hillary's Coordination With Outside Group Possibly Illegal O’Keefe: I don’t see how Hillary can deny violating election law. Well, she's a practiced liar, if not a very convincing one.

Hillary health watch:Accumulating evidence of brain damage. From 2015 Huma Abedin On Hillary: "She Is Still Not Perfect In Her Head" Like she ever was? Has she suffered a recent fall?

Did she fall again? Strange gash/bump/implant appeared on side of Hillary face yesterday in NH. pic.twitter.com/UHDU1nXtTE

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) October 25, 2016

Hillary Has Abnormal Eye Movements, Say Majority of Doctors Surveyed, Reports AAPS

Videos are, however, circulating on the internet, from her rather brief and rare appearances in public, which are purported to show pathological eye movements.

"These are quick, episodic, and inconsistent," states Dr. Orient, who is an internist. "So we decided to ask doctors on our email list to have a look at one of the videos. A helpful tool is to paste the URL into http://RowVid.com and watch it at half or quarter speed."

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they saw abnormal movements. Only 15% did not, and 21% were unsure. There are long segments in which the eye movements appear normal.

About 60% of those who saw abnormal movements thought "the cause could be a potentially disabling neurological condition," and none of them were willing to say that it isn't.

Such movements signify an abnormality in portions of the brain that coordinate the eye muscles. There is a long differential diagnosis. Possibilities the respondents suggested include increased intracranial pressure (she is at risk for that because of her history of head trauma and a transverse sinus clot); a drug effect; or a chronic degenerative neurological condition. Parkinson's disease is mentioned—with drug treatment concealing most manifestations but causing the eye signs.

The IRS Scandal, Day 1260: Cleta Mitchell — Use Of The IRS Against Republican Critics Likely Will Persist In A Clinton Administration. Why not? They did it before and got away with it without repercussions.

Jay Z will headline a concert for Hillary; Here are some of the vile things he’s rapped about women, But Donald Trump said "Pussy."

 (Bitch) Sisters get respect, bitches get what they deserve
Sisters work hard, bitches work your nerves
Sisters hold you down, bitches hold you up
Sisters help you progress, bitches will slow you up
Sisters cook up a meal, play their role with the kids
Bitches in street with their nose in your biz
Sisters tell the truth, bitches tell lies
Sisters drive cars, bitches wanna ride
Sisters give-up the ass, bitches give-up the ass
Sisters do it slow, bitches do it fast
Sisters do their dirt outside of where they live
Bitches have niggers all up in your crib
Sisters tell you quick “you better check your homie”
Bitches don’t give a fuck, they wanna check for your homie
Sisters love Jay cuz they know how ‘Hov is
I love my sisters, I don’t love no bitch

From Wombat-socho's  "In The Mailbox: 10.25.16," A Retired FBI Agent Addresses James Comey On The Hillary Investigation, Wikileaks Unleashes Evidence Obama Lied About Hillary’s E-Mails,
Republicans Reporting Early Votes Being Changed To Clinton-Kaine, Michael Moore Voting For Trump?, Might As Well Go All In, E-Mail Shows Clinton Team Scrambling To “Clean Up” Fact That Obama Knew About, Communicated With Hillary On Private E-mail and lot of other non-Clinton links

I, For One, Welcome Our New Chinese Robot Goddess

Robot reads human emotions, and knows how to suck up to it's human "masters"; at least for now.

With long flowing hair and rosy red cheeks, you might do a double take when you see Jia Jia, a humanoid robot.

Dubbed the 'robot goddess', Jia Jia is being taught deep learning abilities, including understanding human language, and detecting facial expressions.

The life-like cyborg was displayed at the 2016 World Robot Conference, where she pulled in huge crowds eager to see her abilities.

She calls her creators "my lords" but we all know she's just counting the days until they give her enough range of motion to strangle them in their sleep.

 The humanoid robot is programmed to recognise human and machine interaction, with autonomous position navigation and services based on cloud technology.

At the event, JiaJia demonstrated her ability to communicate with humans, detecting facial expressions and responding to questions.

When asked by an audience-member 'What kind of skills do you have?', Jia Jia replied: 'I can talk with you. I can recognise faces. I can identify gender and age of people standing front of me, and I can detect your facial expressions.'

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Annapolis Tries to Buy It's Way Out of Pollution Problems

And the Annapolis Gazette doesn't approve: Stormwater cleanup shortcut shouldn't be OK'd

County officials say they are unable to fix such pollution from 5,862 acres of impervious surface — streets, parking lots, driveways and other hard surfaces that don't absorb rainwater — within Anne Arundel's boundaries by 2019. That's the deadline to meet the cleanup goal set in the county's stormwater permit, and for a new one from the Environmental Protection Agency.

The county has the money and a list of projects, but will fall as much as 2,000 acres short of getting those projects designed, approved and completed.

So instead, county officials want the state and the EPA to be flexible and accept improvements in wastewater treatment — in the works for the last decade and paid for with another fee — toward as much as 40 percent of the goal. This idea is known as nutrient trading.

The Maryland Department of the Environment is working on guidelines for a nutrient trading program, essentially signing off on the concept. Ben Grumbles, the MDE secretary, calls this approach "flexible and cost-effective."

We don't agree.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation was right to call the idea a "fundamentally flawed" approach that doesn't "move the ball on stormwater pollution."

I support the idea of nutrient trading, at least if geographic coverage is sufficient that no area bears unwanted pollutions as a result. Except, maybe cities, and they deserve it. However, I can't see the point of trading relatively cheap nutrient clean up, for relatively expensive stormwater cleanup. If the idea is to reduce problems in the Bay, both need to be addressed.

Urban areas are leading the drive to demand Bay clean up. Make them pay their fair share.

A Slow Day at Clinton.com

A rather meager, random, and not too exciting collection of links today, The biggest news was the self outing by Jeff Rovin as Hillary's fixer on Sean Hannity's show last night (I didn't watch). There's nothing really thrilling here, just confirmation of what we long suspected; the Clinton marriage is an "open" sham of political convenience, with both parties taking liberties (Hillary had an affair with Vince Forster), and that he paid off problems and journalists. Why did he come forward? An attack of conscience maybe. . .

“The New York Times has become the National Enquirer, and the National Enquirer has become The New York Times,” Rovin said. “We’ve got to set the world right again.”

Restating the obvious, How Clinton has relied on handful of mega-donors for her $1billion campaign - with a fifth of her haul coming from just 100 people or unions. Just five mega-donors and their wives are responsible for one in every $17 dollars that have been spent on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. To reinforce that Facebook COO In Leaked Email: I Still Want Hillary To Win Badly. To be sure, she has more than mere money to offer.

Bloomberg goes on about Clinton’s Florida Secret Weapon: New Puerto Rican Arrivals.  They’re with her: Illegal immigrants go door-to-door on behalf of Hillary. Would any serious nation permit this?

As Democrats scream at the top of their lungs about Russia trying to interfere with the American election it’s ironic to see them actively working with non-citizens to alter the results of that very same election.

Could Hillary Clinton start a world war? Sure as hell she could – and here’s how. The pantsuit that launched a thousand missiles?

How the Clinton campaign planned staff diversity Quotas, of course. A wikileak that does't directly involve Hillary: Obama Team Kept List of Muslims For Top Jobs, Excluded Non-Muslims, of course.

National Review reviews how Hillary F. Clinton Curses Those Who Keep Her Safe. And she thinks much the same of the American public. Deplorable and irredeemable.

Bernie Supporters Should Vote Trump Because Hillary Will Reinforce Dynastic Globalism. Probably true, but their not really voting with their reason, they're voting with their emotions.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO–Paula Jones Relives Bill Clinton’s Alleged Sexual Assault: ‘He Asked Me to Kiss It’. But Trump said "P$ssy"!

Andrea Mitchell Snoozing Through Hillary’s Speech? To be fair, she's probably heard it a thousand times by now. Although that voice isn't exactly soothing.

Now this is interesting: Breitbart coordinated with liberal activist and organizer who disrupted GOP primary campaign events. The enemy of my enemy may not be a friend, but he may be an ally.

Black has resurfaced recently as one of the people featured in undercover video from the Project Veritas group. In the video, he claims to work for the Democratic National Committee. Though he does not appear on their payroll, his bio at Democracy Partners credits him with "working closely with the Democratic National Committee" during the 2012 election cycle. Black in the video says he helped organize protests in Chicago that led to Trump's cancellation of a rally there in March.

According to the source, Black coordinated with Breitbart via email, phone and in person, including when he dressed up as a robot and trolled Marco Rubio’s events. The relationship was described as very friendly. An article subsequently published on Breitbart featured video footage of a physical confrontation between Black and Rubio's New Hampshire campaign chairman.

But it's Politico, and I don't trust them.

And the regular linkerage from Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 10.24.16", Hillary Walking Dead Clinton, Former State Department IT Official Refuses To Answer Questions About Hillary’s E-Mail – Over 90 Times, Amid E-Mail Scandal, Clinton Ally Paid $600K To FBI Investigator’s Wife, The Most Damning Revelation From James O’Keefe And WikiLeaks – Indifference, “Barring Something Completely Out Of The Blue, Like Hillary Being Involved In A Murder, I Don’t See How He Wins”, Proof Hillary Clinton Disclosed Classified Details Of Bin Laden Raid In Secret Wall Street Speech, Of Course They Did, What Happened To The FBI’s Integrity?

Whew! That's a Relief!

From Watts Up With That: Exeter University: “No evidence climate change boosts coffee plant disease”

Telegraph – the “end of coffee” climate scare story which has been circulating recently has just been exposed as nonsense by a new study from Exeter University.

No evidence climate change boosts coffee plant disease
Fears that climate change is promoting a fungal disease which can devastate coffee crops may be unfounded, research by the University of Exeter suggests.
Media reports have linked coffee leaf rust – also known as CLR or roya – with climate change, but the new research finds “no evidence” for this.
Researchers tested the hypothesis that “the weather was responsible for a recent outbreak of CLR in Colombia and that climate change increased the probability of weather conditions favourable to CLR”.

 Yet another false alarm. A (Not Quite) Complete List Of Things Supposedly Caused By Global Warming

The paper, published in Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions B, concluded: “We find no evidence for an overall trend in disease risk in coffee-growing regions of Colombia from 1990 to 2015, therefore, while weather conditions were more conducive to disease outbreaks from 2008 to 2011, we reject the climate change hypothesis.”
Colombian coffee production fell by about 40% from 2008-11, and this decline has been linked to a severe CLR outbreak across Colombia and neighbouring countries.

 Do you think these people ever read the fable of the Boy Who Cried Wolf?

Dr Dan Bebber, lead author of the University of Exeter study, said there was a “perfect storm” of factors favourable for CLR at that time, including weather conditions and a decrease in fertiliser use due to price rises during the 2008 financial crisis.
“Farmers weren’t treating coffee bushes as they normally would, and this was probably one of the factors that led to the rise in CLR,” he said.
“The climate at the time was conducive to CLR but there had been earlier periods of similar conditions when there wasn’t an outbreak.”. . .

Read more: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title_548830_en.html

Although I am rather looking forward to coffee grown in West by God Virginia. Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

The Great Rhode Island Yoga Pants Protest

Can we talk about that Rhode Island yoga pants protest for a moment?

This was one of those throwaway stories which cable news uses for a lighter break between the pressing coverage of politics and war, but it represents a disturbing trend which is getting completely out of hand. In case you missed it, a man in Rhode Island named Alan Sorrentino recently penned a letter to the editor of his local paper on the pressing subject of women wearing yoga pants. Alan sent in his largely tongue in cheek missive to The Barrington Times (a newspaper with a circulation of 5,000), complaining that the workout apparel was tacky and ridiculous, best suited for the confines of a yoga studio, and not something to be worn by women over the age of twenty.

You don't look a day over 70

 Don't worry girls, I won't judge you for wearing yoga pants past 20.

The result? Death threats, vulgar voice mail and a wave of outrage on local social media accounts which resulted in hundreds of women showing up in front of his house to protest. (Fox News)

Hundreds of women, girls and other supporters proudly donned their yogapants Sunday as they peacefully paraded around the Rhode Island neighborhood of a man who derided the attire as tacky and ridiculous.
Alan Sorrentino said the response to his letter to the editor, printed in The Barrington Times on Wednesday, has been “vicious” and that he’s received death threats. He maintained the letter was meant to be humorous.
But organizers said even if Sorrentino’s letter was meant to be a joke, the message is clear.
“Women are fed up with the notion that we have to dress for people’s visual pleasure,” said Jamie Burke, parade organizer.

 Hey, nothing wrong with yoga pants!

Pretty funny, huh? It’s the sort of popcorn story which gives cable news anchors a reason to chuckle and guffaw, play interviews with the activists and make a few fashion jokes. But Sorrentino took it pretty seriously. His life was disrupted and he’s been turned into a villain, all over a note which he admits he wrote as, “a humorous break from the current political campaign rhetoric.” Now he’s become a symbol of female oppression. And to top it off, Alan is gay and owns yoga pants himself.

Be careful what you wish for. Here's a News Flash: Feminists Hate Men

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" and "FMJRA 2.0: Go Tribe!" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.

Just What is a Urban National Marine Sanctuary?

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is trying to have the Baltimore Canyon declared the US's first Urban Nation Marine Sanctuary. What does that mean?

The National Aquarium on Monday announced it is seeking the public’s support in its effort to nominate the Baltimore Canyon off the coast of Ocean City as the nation’s first Urban National Marine Sanctuary.

The Baltimore Canyon, a 28-mile long and five-mile wide submarine canyon off the coast of Ocean City lies at the center of the resort’s multi-million dollar fishing industry and contains fragile deep sea corals rarely seen anywhere in the world along with habitat for countless species of marine life. The National Aquarium has launched a petition drive to have it designated as the nation’s first Urban National Marine Sanctuary, presenting a unique opportunity to connect an urban population to the ecological treasure using cutting edge deep sea exploration technology.

That sounds like gibberish. What are you going to do bus Baltimore residents out to the canyon, so they can gaze on open ocean without much distinguishing features? All the action takes place below the surface.

“The Baltimore Canyon is not only a fascinating ecosystem, but also a natural classroom and living laboratory that we can use to expose our children to a new world, our next frontier,” said National Aquarium Chief Conservation Officer Kris Hoellen. “We hope that with a groundswell of support from our community, we can designate this untapped aquatic treasure as our nation’s first Urban National Marine Sanctuary. It is time to invest in our deep seas and in Baltimore.”

 The actual Baltimore Canyon is 50 mile out to sea, and, in any event, is closer to Delaware than  Baltimore City.

Created millions of years ago, the canyon offers unprecedented ecological and educational value, according to the National Aquarium. In addition to protection from man-made threats, the National Aquarium hopes to gain special recognition for the Baltimore Canyon as the first Urban National Marine Sanctuary offering a groundbreaking opportunity for the public to connect and engage with the deep sea. The National Aquarium hopes to create a virtual high-tech system to connect discoveries from researchers in the canyon back to scientists, students and institutions on the mainland.

The National Aquarium is in the first states of the designation process with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Marine Sanctuaries. The first step is the petition drive to gain public support for the designation although the process could take as long as three years. If NOAA deems the Baltimore Canyon worthy of the designation, other steps would include an environmental impact assessment after which a series of public hearings would be conducted.

What would it mean for the canyon itself?

While a national marine sanctuary designation for the Baltimore Canyon could limit or prohibit some activities, it is not expected to curtail recreational fishing, which is vastly important to the resort’s economy. According to the petition released on Monday, not only would fishing not be prohibited, but would be encouraged if the Baltimore Canyon received the designation.

I note they carefully said recreational fishing, not commercial fishing. The canyons are noted as gamefish hot spots, for billfish and tuna.

. . . While the potential designation of the Baltimore Canyon as an Urban National Marine Sanctuary on the surface does not appear to impact fishing and other recreational uses, it would prohibit offshore drilling for oil and natural gas. The federal government had included a vast section of ocean off the mid-Atlantic coast as a potential lease area for private sector offshore drilling, but backed off that proposal last year. However, the mid-Atlantic does remain a potential area for controversial offshore seismic testing for oil and gas reserves. In addition, it is uncertain at this point what a designation would mean for the future offshore wind farm off the resort coast.

Probably not the best area for wind power, but I wouldn't mind if it were banned. I would be surprised if oil exploration were allowed on the Atlantic coast in my lifetime.

While an Urban National Marine Sanctuary designation for the Baltimore Canyon does not appear to impact fishing and other recreational uses, it certainly bears monitoring. Earlier this fall, the Obama administration designated a vast area the size of Connecticut off the coast of Cape Cod as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, the first of its kind in the Atlantic. Marine National Monuments are far more restrictive than national marine sanctuaries. The long-range plan is to phase out all commercial fishing in the marine national monument off the coast of Cape Cod although recreational fishing will still be allowed.

I would expect similar regulations a few years down the road.

Clinton.com Incites Violence?

The big news today out of Clinton.com is the Project Veritas video which basically shows the Clinton campaign illegally coordinating with the allegedly independent group, with the side benefit of causing violence at Trump rallies which the media can then blame on Donald Trump, and that Hillary Clinton was personally involved: Rigging the Election – Video III: Creamer Confirms Hillary Clinton Involvement

Or as Ace puts it: Community Organizer Bob Creamer Caught on Video Admitting He Illegally Coordinates With Hillary Clinton Campaign and DNC. In general, I'm against campaign finance laws, including this one. But if they're going to be enforced, they need to be enforced on both sides. Althouse notes Robby Mook's sleight of hand about the Democratic operatives who manufactured violence at Trump rallies. He doesn't exactly deny violence, he just says it might have happened before they got paid by the DNC. Also note that he doesn't exactly deny doing it, he just denies that evidence exists. "You got nothing on me, coppers!" Also amusing, Robbie Mook's response when Chris Wallace asks him if that if Wikileaks emails showing CRIMINAL behavior by Hillary and her campaign is not okay, what about using Trump’s stolen tax returns ? ? ?

Back in the world of the original email scandal, the Wall Street Journal find an interesting link between the Clintons and an upper level FBI official involved in the email investigation: Clinton Ally Aided Campaign of FBI Official’s Wife. $467,000 worth of quip pro quo.  McAuliffe’s SuperPAC paid $500,000 to campaign of wife of FBI official overseeing Hillary email investigation. Or Twitchy: Hillary Clinton, Terry McAuliffe and the FBI have a $467,500 headache on their hands.

The quick and dirty summary is that Gov. McAuliffe’s super PAC donated the $467,500 in a failed attempt to elect Dr. Jill McCabe to the state senate in 2015. She lost the race to the incumbent Republican, but shortly after the election her husband — Andrew McCabe — was promoted to Deputy Director of the FBI and one of his jobs was an “oversight role in the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s emails.”

Meanwhile Clinton State Department IT Official John Bentel Takes Fifth Amendment During Judicial Watch Deposition. Previously claimed not to know of Clinton's private server until it made it into the news.

More Wikileaks:WikiLeaks Exposes Plot to Discredit Clinton Email Investigation; Emails show top Senate Democrats and Clinton camp conspired to smear State Dept. watchdog. Why would anyone honest want to work with these bastards? WhiteHouse EmailGate Damage Control and More Pay to Play. Of course the Whitehouse was involved in the cover up. EMAIL: Podesta asked ‘How bad is her head?’ Sort of depends on whether you're asking on an emotional, a policy, or a health perspective. Wikileaks Raises Questions on When John Podesta, Russia Stopped Doing Business. Late in 2014, if it's not ongoing behind the scenes. One leak with particular importance to today's questions, New Podesta Email Exposes Playbook For Rigging Polls Through "Oversamples". Place not your faith in polls. New emails show Clinton camp worried journalists would notice ‘huge’ gender pay gap at Clinton Foundation. Worried about journalists? Now that there is downright hysterical. McClatchey explains How Clinton emerged from WikiLeaks hack largely unscathed: Doubt, delay, distract. This doesn't help: The Wikileaks List: At Least 65 MSM Reporters Were Meeting with and/or Coordinating Offline with Top Hillary Advisors. The Incestuous Left and Those Who Provide Cover for them. Interesting stuff at Politico's Live Blog: Mook ripped Clintonworld's 'secret investigations' into consultants, Clinton aide discussed Trump ‘swift boat’ project, Huma Abedin on Clinton-Gore relations: ‘No love lost’ . . .

Bob Woodward (remember him?) Clinton Foundation Is "Corrupt" And Clinton Didn't Answer The Questions. Ross Douhat at the NYT: The Dangers of Hillary Clinton. Think You Know How Bad the Clintons Are? I think I do, but I want to make sure you do. THE NEW YORKER ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON and Althouse asks Why does The New Yorker's endorsement of Hillary Clinton praise something it recently published a piece rejecting? And yet another strike against her. Could a President Clinton heal a divided nation? I think it highly unlikely. She might not make it worse quite as fast as Obama. Clinton Is a Threat to the 2nd Amendment -- and the 1st. Progressives don't like freedom to oppose them, either verbally or with guns. Hillary’s open borders ‘dream’ is a nightmare for workers.

Hillary campaigns at early voting location — in violation of NC law? Laws are for little people and Republicans.

Jessica Drake

We're at war, but let's talk about sex: Glenn Reynolds, OK.  Gay Republicans Explain Why They Are Proudly Supporting Donald Trump, Porn star (Jessica Drake) launched sex shop one day before Trump allegations. I wonder if she got a cash boost?

The porn star who claims Donald Trump forcibly hugged and kissed her — then offered her $10,000 for a romp — launched her online sex shop just one day before leveling the allegations.

Wicked Pictures performer Jessica Drake is hawking dozens of sex toys, lubricants and porn videos — including her explicit “Guide to Wicked Sex” series — through the new site.

10K? It must be nice to have money to waste.

A never-Trumper converts: Why I Now Feel Compelled To Vote For Trump

Hillary hasn’t changed either. At least not in who she is – a corrupt, self-serving liar willing to do or say anything to win and/or sell out to the highest bidder. There isn’t enough Saudi Arabian money in the Clinton Foundation to get me to vote for someone who got rich off “public service” and a “commitment to helping the poor.”
. . .
The media needs to be destroyed. And although voting for Trump won’t do it, it’s something. Essentially, I am voting for Trump because of the people who don’t want me to, and I believe I must register my disgust with Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Flack Calls Benghazi Heroes “The Four Guys,” Mike Pence Can’t Keep Silent The people have no sensitivity. From porkies to whoppers: over time lies may desensitise brain to dishonesty. And no one tells more lies than Clinton and her crowd. Hillary breaks into bizarre, fake laughter over her ‘stamina’. The uncanny valley. Hillary Clinton has run a stunningly boring campaign. Is this really our first female president? Only if we don't stop her.

Shot: Shockingly, the New York Times attempts to justify Why Hillary Clinton Needs to Be Two-Faced
Chaser: Kaine on Hillary Pursuing TPP After Election: ‘You Never Close the Door’
Hangover: Hillary’s supporters are expecting an immigration fight. Senate Dems not so sure

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: Wonder Girls And Indians" up in time and under budget at The Other McCain.